Ascend Promotes Nate Bek as Principal Amid Tech Executive Shake-Up

Nate Bek has been promoted to principal at Seattle-based venture capital firm Ascend. This move comes after only nine months as senior associate and head of research, a position he took on in January 2024.

Founding general partner Kirby Winfield credited Bek with helping the firm's companies launch with national press coverage, researching and communicating its investment theses, and sourcing deals including Neuramill and Endurance Energy. Winfield praised Bek as 'a force multiplier for Ascend' due to his hyperconnectivity in the Seattle ecosystem and ability to execute novel market research.

Bek previously worked as a startups and venture capital reporter at GeekWire, where he co-wrote a widely read guest column making the case that many of Seattle's most promising startups are building physical products. He also built the Twitter client Tweetium as a side project before joining Microsoft in 2005 and later rejoined in 2016.